US7447203B2 - Broadband access for virtual private networks - Google Patents

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Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L63/00—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security
  • H04L63/02—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for separating internal from external traffic, e.g. firewalls
  • H04L63/0272—Virtual private networks
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L12/00—Data switching networks
  • H04L12/28—Data switching networks characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks]
  • H04L12/46—Interconnection of networks
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L12/00—Data switching networks
  • H04L12/28—Data switching networks characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks]
  • H04L12/46—Interconnection of networks
  • H04L12/4604—LAN interconnection over a backbone network, e.g. Internet, Frame Relay
  • H04L12/462—LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone
  • H04L12/4625—Single bridge functionality, e.g. connection of two networks over a single bridge
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L12/00—Data switching networks
  • H04L12/28—Data switching networks characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks]
  • H04L12/46—Interconnection of networks
  • H04L12/4633—Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L12/00—Data switching networks
  • H04L12/28—Data switching networks characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks]
  • H04L12/46—Interconnection of networks
  • H04L12/4641—Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN]
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L45/00—Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks
  • H04L45/74—Address processing for routing
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L49/00—Packet switching elements
  • H04L49/35—Switches specially adapted for specific applications
  • H04L49/354—Switches specially adapted for specific applications for supporting virtual local area networks [VLAN]
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L63/00—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security
  • H04L63/02—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for separating internal from external traffic, e.g. firewalls
  • H04L63/0227—Filtering policies
  • H04L63/0236—Filtering by address, protocol, port number or service, e.g. IP-address or URL
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L63/00—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security
  • H04L63/08—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for authentication of entities
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L65/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication
  • H04L65/60—Network streaming of media packets
  • H04L65/61—Network streaming of media packets for supporting one-way streaming services, e.g. Internet radio
  • H04L65/611—Network streaming of media packets for supporting one-way streaming services, e.g. Internet radio for multicast or broadcast
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
  • H04L69/22—Parsing or analysis of headers

Definitions

• the present invention relates to the field of telecommunications. More particularly, the present invention relates to using an Internet protocol (IP) network of a telecommunications service provider to provide virtual private network (VPN) functionality among local area networks (LANs).
• IP Internet protocol
• VPN virtual private network
• a virtual private network is a non-public network that runs over a shared network infrastructure, such as the public Internet.
• a VPN enables interconnection among distinct networks, including local area networks (LANs), and other end-systems over a wide area network (WAN).
• LANs local area networks
• WAN wide area network
• the VPN provides security to the extent that it recognizes and transports only data associated with end-systems that are part of the network.
• a virtual local area network provides logical grouping and networking of various customer end-systems, such as work stations, user devices, private networks, and the like, as though they are grouped on the same physical LAN.
• the VLAN associates end-systems based on criteria other than the physical location of the end-systems.
• the VLAN can provide network services to a customer having multiple geographic locations, or to a department within a customer organization remotely located throughout a campus environment.
• a VLAN VPN implemented over a WAN is provided by a telecommunications service provider (TSP) to interconnect the LANs as if they were one.
• TSPs telecommunications service provider
• MPLS multi-protocol label switching
• ATM asynchronous transfer mode
• PPP point-to-point protocol
• the present invention overcomes the problems associated with the prior art, as described below.
• FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an exemplary network architecture, according to an aspect of the present invention.
• FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating IP broadband access from an originating LAN, according to an aspect of the present invention.
• the present invention incorporates an Internet protocol, version 6 (IPv6) network to provide a connectionless approach to implementing VLAN VPNs among various LANs.
• IPv6 Internet protocol, version 6
• the invention enables broadband access to the IPv6 network of a telecommunications service provider (TSP) by emulating layer two (e.g., Ethernet) functionality while performing layer three (e.g., IP) routing through a WAN.
• TSP telecommunications service provider
• a user operating within an originating LAN of a VPN may access the IPv6 TSP network from either a IPv4 or an IPv6 originating device by encapsulating each frame in an IPv6 packet, together with a unique VPN identification number, at an ingress line interface of the TSP network.
• the LAN frames include, for example, Ethernet frames, media access control (MAC) frames, other layer two frames and the like.
• the IPv6 packet is routed through the TSP network to an egress line interface associated with the destination LAN within the same VPN.
• the egress line interface verifies the VPN identification number and, upon verification, decapsulates the IPv6 packet and transmits the LAN frame to the destination LAN.
• Use of the IPv6 TSP network is a scalable and more manageable alternative to current MPLS networks, for example.
• An aspect of the present invention provides a method for sending data through a provider network from an originating network to a destination network in a VPN.
• the method includes encapsulating data link layer data from the originating network in a network layer packet and determining whether a data link layer address of a destination device in the destination network is mapped to a network layer address of an egress line interface in the provider network.
• the network layer packet is broadcast to a multicast address associated with the VPN.
• the network layer packet is unicast to the egress line interface address.
• a VPN identification number corresponding to the VPN may be added to the network layer packet.
• the VPN identification number is verified after the egress line interface receives the network layer packet.
• the data layer link data is decapsulated from the network layer packet only when the VPN identification number is verified.
• Another aspect of the present invention provides a method for providing broadband access to a VPN, which includes multiple LANs configured to interface with an IPv6 service provider network through broadband access links.
• the method includes encapsulating a LAN frame from an originating LAN of the VPN in an IPv6 packet of the service provider network; adding a VPN identification number corresponding to the VPN to the IPv6 packet; and routing the IPv6 packet through the service provider network.
• the LAN frame is decapsulated when the VPN identification number is verified.
• the decapsulated LAN frame is transmitted to the destination LAN.
• the IPv6 packet is discarded when the VPN identification number is not verified.
• the IPv6 packet includes an IPv6 address of an ingress line interface, which receives the LAN frame, as a source address and an IPv6 address of an egress line interface, to which the IPv6 packet is routed for verification, as a destination address.
• the IPv6 packet may include the VPN identification number in an optional header extension.
• the VPN identification number may be included in a multiple of four octets of the optional header extension.
• the optional header extension may further identify a destination option type, in which case the method further includes discarding the IPv6 packet when the egress line interface does not recognize the destination option type in the optional header extension.
• the optional header extension may further identify a VPN hop number, which indicates a number of line interfaces that transmit the IPv6 packet.
• IPv6 packet is broadcast to a multicast address associated with the VPN and the IPv6 packet is received at the egress line interface based on the multicast address.
• An address of the egress line interface is mapped to the address of the destination device, based on address information received by the ingress line interface in a transmission from the destination device.
• Subsequent IPv6 packets are then transmitted to the destination device using a unicast address of the egress line interface based on the mapping.
• Another aspect of the present invention provides a system for providing broadband access to a VPN, which includes multiple LANs configured to interface with an IPv6 service provider network.
• the system includes multiple interface devices in the service provider network.
• Each interface device includes at least one line interface, each of which is connectable to at least one of the LANs through a broadband access link.
• a first interface device receives a LAN frame from a first LAN at an ingress line interface corresponding to the first LAN, encapsulates the LAN frame in an IPv6 packet, and adds a VPN identification number corresponding to the VPN to the IPv6 packet.
• the LAN frame is directed to a second LAN.
• a second interface device receives the IPv6 packet at an egress line interface corresponding to the second LAN, verifies the VPN identification number, decapsulates the LAN frame when the VPN identification number is verified, and transmits the LAN frame to the second LAN.
• the second interface device discards the IPv6 packet when it is not able to verify the VPN identification number.
• the IPv6 packet includes the VPN identification number in an optional header extension.
• the first interface device may further include an ingress virtual bridge corresponding to the ingress line interface. When the ingress virtual bridge is not able to associate an address of a destination device in the second LAN with an address of the egress line interface of the second interface device, the first interface device broadcasts the IPv6 packet to a multicast address associated with the VPN.
• the second interface device receives the IPv6 packet at the egress line interface based on the multicast address.
• the second interface device may further include an egress virtual bridge corresponding to the egress line interface. The egress virtual bridge then maps an address of an originating device in the first LAN with the address of the ingress line interface after the second interface device receives the broadcast IPv6 packet.
• the second interface device is able to unicast subsequent IPv6 packets, directed to the originating device, to the address of the ingress line interface based on the mapping.
• Yet another aspect of the present invention provides a method of providing broadband access for a customer in a VPN, including multiple LANs interfacing with at least one TSP network.
• Each TSP network includes multiple interfaces corresponding to the multiple LANs.
• the method includes assigning a unique VPN identification number to the customer and assigning a common multicast address to the interfaces and a unique unicast address to each of the interfaces.
• Data from an originating LAN is received, the data being directed to a destination device in a destination LAN.
• the originating LAN corresponds to an ingress interface of the interfaces and the destination LAN corresponds to an egress interface of the interfaces.
• the data is encapsulated in a multicast packet, having the unique address of the ingress interface as a source address and the multicast address as a destination address.
• the encapsulated data is transmitted to all interfaces corresponding to the LANs based on the multicast address.
• the frame is decapsulated only at the egress interface, which forwards the frame to the destination device.
• the destination device address may be mapped to the IPv6 address of the egress interface based on address information previously received by the ingress interface from the destination device.
• the data is encapsulated in a unicast packet having the unique IPv6 address of the ingress interface as the source address and the unique address of the egress interface as the destination address.
• the encapsulated frame is then transmitted only to the egress interface, based on the destination address in the unicast packet.
• the VPN identification number may be entered in the multicast packet and/or the unicast packet. The reading the VPN identification is read at the egress interface to verify that the received packet is associated with the VPN.
• the present invention is directed to enabling TSPs to provide IP broadband network services over packet switched data networks having expanded capacity, such as IPv6 networks.
• IPv6 networks are capable of serving mass-market IP broadband access subscribers, as well as accommodating business customers to manage their data communication services in-house.
• VLAN VPN is one service that enables the broadband access and management control desired.
• FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting an exemplary network infrastructure supporting the present invention.
• FIG. 1 depicts a VLAN VPN of a customer, which includes multiple LANs 10 , 40 and 50 .
• each LAN is an Ethernet LAN having user end-systems 14 , 44 and 54 that interface with a TSP core network 20 through customer edge devices 11 , 41 and 51 , respectively.
• each of the LANs 10 , 40 and 50 may be an IP network or other data network without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
• the TSP network 20 is an IPv6 network, which allows static allocation of IPv6 addresses to uniquely identify the customers, due to the large address space of the IPv6 format.
• the TSP IPv6 network 20 is essentially configured such that it appears to be a wide-area LAN to the VLAN VPN customer.
• the LANs 10 , 40 and 50 depicted in the exemplary embodiment of the invention, provide layer two (i.e., data link layer) network functionality.
• Layer two functionality generally includes handling physical and logical connections to the Ethernet or other LAN frame (or packet) destinations.
• the user devices such as customer devices 14 , 44 and 54 , are addressed and identified using unique MAC addresses corresponding to each device.
• the data link layer protocol specifies the MAC address of each frame's source and destination.
• the TSP network 20 provides layer three (ie., network layer) functionality.
• the network layer routes packets (or datagrams) from one network to another.
• Internet protocol in particular, identifies each IP device with a unique IP address, including, for example, the edge devices 22 , 23 and 24 and/or the various line interfaces 22 a , 23 a and 24 a , discussed below.
• each IP address is an IPv6 address allocated by the TSP network 20 .
• IP e.g., IPv6
• TCP transmission control protocol
• UDP user datagram protocol
• the originating customer device 14 is depicted as part of the originating LAN 10 .
• Each of the LANs 10 , 40 and 50 may include any number and type of IP compatible networked devices, including, for example, a personal computer, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a voice over IP telephone, or the like.
• the originating customer device 14 communicates through the LAN 10 with the customer edge device 11 .
• the customer edge device 11 likewise is any interface device capable of communicating with the TSP network 20 , such as an Ethernet switch or an IP router with an Ethernet interface, depending on the type of customer network.
• the customer edge device 11 accesses an ingress router 22 of the TSP network 20 over a broadband access link 12 .
• the broadband access link 12 is a digital subscriber line (DSL), and therefore includes a DSL access multiplexer (DSLAM), an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) edge switch and an interworking function device (not pictured), for example.
• the broadband access link 12 may include digital cable, T-1, digital signal-level 3 (DS-3) or optical carrier-level 3 (OC-3) interfaces, or an Ethernet.
• the broadband access links 12 , 42 and 52 of the various LANs in the VPN do not need to be the same type.
• the TSP network 20 includes multiple edge devices (i.e., gateways) 22 , 23 and 24 , which may be IPv6 routers or switches having Ethernet bridging functionality, for example.
• Each edge device 22 , 23 and 24 has multiple line interfaces, which correspond to the various customer LANs and interface the edge devices with the customer LANs, including depicted line interfaces 22 a , 23 a and 24 a . It is understood that each edge device 22 , 23 and 24 is configured with multiple line interfaces, even though FIG. 1 depicts only one corresponding line interface 22 a , 23 a and 24 a for each.
• the multiple line interfaces enable each edge device 22 , 23 and 24 to simultaneously service multiple VPNs and LANs.
• each customer device 14 , 44 and 54 corresponds to a single line interface (e.g., line interfaces 22 a , 23 a and 24 a ), although alternative embodiments of the invention include multiple interfaces for a single customer device 14 , 44 and 54 .
• each line interface 22 a , 23 a and 24 a is associated with a virtual learning bridge, which learns and caches mapping of customer devices 14 , 44 and 54 with their associated line interfaces 22 a , 23 a and 24 a .
• the TSP network 20 is thus able to more efficiently route communications among the LANs in the VPN over time.
• FIG. 1 depicts an ingress edge device 22 , which interfaces with the broadband access link 12 of the originating LAN 10 through an ingress line interface 22 a .
• FIG. 1 depicts two egress edge devices 23 and 24 .
• Egress edge device 23 interfaces with the broadband access link 42 of the destination LAN 40 through an egress line interface 23 a
• the egress edge device 24 interfaces with the broadband access link 52 of the destination LAN 50 through an egress line interface 24 a .
• Each of the LANs 40 and 50 respectively include at least one destination device 44 and 54 of the customer, which may be any of the types of devices described above with respect to the originating customer device 14 of LAN 10 . It is understood that all of the exemplary customer devices and corresponding edge devices depicted in FIG. 1 are capable of sending and receiving data through the VPN, and are described as originating or destination devices only to facilitate description of the various embodiments of the invention.
• IPv6 packets are routed through the TSP network 20 to one of the egress edge devices 23 or 24 , depending on the destination address of each IPv6 packet sent from the ingress edge device 22 .
• an Ethernet frame from the customer device 14 destined for the destination device 44 in LAN 40 is encapsulated in an IPv6 packet having the IP address of the egress line interface 23 a as the destination address.
• the ingress edge device 22 multicasts the IPv6 packet to the other edge devices serving the VLAN VPN so that all potential egress edge devices, including the egress edge devices 23 and 24 , receive the packet.
• the broadcast comprises a modified address resolution protocol (ARP) message and the encapsulation and decapsulation is performed by the customer edge devices 11 and 41 .
• ARP address resolution protocol
• the customer subscribes to a VLAN VPN service having IP broadband connectivity with the TSP network 20 from multiple sites or locations.
• the customer's VLAN VPN is assigned a unique VPN identification number, which is four or more bytes, for example.
• the unique VPN identification number is an IPv6 address prefix under control of the TSP or an identification number allocated from a dedicated, separate address space of the TSP network 20 .
• the VPN identification number assigned to the customer is included with the VPN interface configuration. The VPN identification number distinguishes data packets associated with the customer's VLAN VPN from other VLAN VPNs supported by the TSP network 20 .
• Each of the line interfaces 22 a , 23 a and 24 a depicted in the TSP network 20 is allocated unique IPv6 address (TSP-IPv6) from an IPv6 address block of the TSP network 20 .
• TSP-IPv6 addresses correspond to particular LANs of the customer's VPN.
• the line interfaces 22 a , 23 a and 24 a are also assigned a VLAN VPN specific IPv6 multicast address (TSP-MIPv6) from the TSP's IPv6 address block, associated with the customer's VPN.
• TSP-MIPv6 VLAN VPN specific IPv6 multicast address
• a single multicast address may be used to multicast a packet to all of the interfaces serving a VLAN VPN.
• the TSP-IPv6 and TSP-MIPv6 addresses are allocated or assigned to the line interfaces 22 a , 23 a and 24 a manually, although any effective form of allocation or assignment may be incorporated without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
• the TSP network 20 is able to effectively provide layer two (e.g., Ethernet) capabilities to link customer edge devices 11 , 41 and 51 , while the customer performs its own layer three (e.g., IP) network administration.
• the ingress edge device 22 has virtual learning bridges corresponding to the line interfaces associated with every VLAN VPN that it serves, including the line interface 22 a .
• the virtual learning bridge receives an Ethernet frame from the originating VLAN 10 , for example, it learns and caches identification information, such as an Ethernet MAC address and/or the LAN identification number (e.g., the 802.1q tag) of the originating customer device 14 from which the frame is sent. Therefore, the line interface 22 a knows precisely where to forward frames that it subsequently receives, e.g., from the other line interfaces 23 a and 24 a , destined for the MAC address and/or the VLAN identification number of the originating customer device 14 .
• the virtual learning bridge learns information that enables the line interface 22 a to efficiently forward LAN frames that it receives from the originating customer device 14 to various destination devices, such as the destination customer devices 44 and 54 .
• the ingress line interface 22 a learns information that enables the line interface 22 a to efficiently forward LAN frames that it receives from the originating customer device 14 to various destination devices, such as the destination customer devices 44 and 54 .
• the ingress line interface 22 a learns information that enables the line interface 22 a to efficiently forward LAN frames that it receives from the originating customer device 14 to various destination devices, such as the destination customer devices 44 and 54 .
• the ingress line interface 22 a learns information that enables the line interface 22 a to efficiently forward LAN frames that it receives from the originating customer device 14 to various destination devices, such as the destination customer devices 44 and 54 .
• the ingress line interface 22 a learns information that enables the line interface 22 a to efficiently forward LAN frames that it receives from the originating customer device 14 to
• mapping of the destination address to an egress line interface does not exist, for example, when the ingress line interface 22 a has no record of transmitting a packet from the originating customer device 14 to the destination customer device 44 (or from the originating LAN 10 to the destination LAN 40 ), the ingress line interface 22 a encapsulates the LAN frame in a multicast IPv6 packet at step s 214 .
• the multicast IPv6 packet includes the TSP IPv6 address of the ingress line interface 22 a as the source address and the TSP-MIPv6 multicast address of the customer's VLAN VPN as the destination multicast address.
• the previously assigned VPN identification number is added to the header of the IPv6 packet in order to provide security for the VPN.
• Use of the VPN identification number prevents unsecured or unauthorized LAN frames from being delivered to VPN customers at the egress line interfaces 23 a and 24 a .
• Use of the VPN identification number is an improvement over security measures implemented in conventional VPNs, which typically require layered connections internal to the network, and a control plane consisting of virtual routers configured to exchange routing information.
• the customer edge device 11 adds the VPN identification number to the IPv6 packet header, and the ingress line interface 22 a confirms it.
• the IPv6 packet, including the VPN identification number is transmitted through the TSP network 20 to the egress line interface 23 a in the egress device 23 at step s 220 .
• an extension of the current IPv6 optional header is used to encapsulate the VPN identification number.
• the IPv6 header is implemented, for example, in accordance with RFC 2460, “Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) Specification” (December 1998), the content of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
• the VPN identification number marks an IPv6 packet as belonging to a particular VLAN VPN.
• the VPN identification number header is a specific option of the more generic destination options header (e.g., header type 60 ) of the IPv6 protocol.
• An exemplary format of the optional header extension, including the VPN identification number header is as follows:
• the first three bits of the first octet are 011, as shown above.
• the remaining five bits comprise the destination option type number.
• the value of 011 indicates that nodes not recognizing this option type should discard the packet and that the option data (i.e., the VPN hop count) may change en route. Discarding the packet ensures that any packet delivered to a node not capable of processing VPN headers will not be inadvertently delivered to a site outside of the VPN.
• the VPN hop count is an eight bit unsigned integer, which is incremented by one by each peering edge device in the TSP network 20 that forwards the packet.
• the VPN identification number is a four (or multiple of four) octet identifier associated with each VPN.
• the multicast IPv6 packet including the encapsulated LAN frame and the VPN identification number, is then broadcast through the TSP network 20 , resulting in the IPv6 packet being received by every potential egress line interface associated with a broadband access of the customer's VLAN VPN, including, for example, line interfaces 23 a and 24 a , at step s 220 .
• the line interface 23 a which corresponds to the destination LAN 40 and/or the destination customer device 44 proceeds with the remaining steps of FIG. 2 , for example, based on the MAC address of the destination customer device 44 to which the LAN frame was initially addressed.
• the ingress line interface 22 a encapsulates the LAN frame in a unicast IPv6 packet at step s 232 .
• the IPv6 packet has the TSP IPv6 address of the egress line interface (e.g., the line interface 23 a ) as the destination address and the TSP IPv6 address of the ingress line interface 22 a as the source address.
• the previously assigned VPN identification number is added to the header of the IPv6 packet in order to provide security for the VPN, as described above with respect to multicasting IPv6 packets.
• the unicast IPv6 packet including the encapsulated LAN frame and the VPN identification number, is then transmitted through the TSP network 20 using the TSP IPv6 address of the egress line interface 23 a , which receives the unicast IPv6 packet at step s 220 .
• the virtual learning bridge of the egress line interface 23 a authenticates the IPv6 packet. For example, the egress line interface 23 a first determines whether the VPN identification number of the received IPv6 packet matches the assigned customer VPN identification number. Any IPv6 packets that do not include a matching VPN identification number are discarded at step s 238 . In an embodiment of the invention, the destination customer edge device 41 determines whether the VPN identification number of the received IPv6 packet matches the assigned VPN identification number and discards unauthorized packets, accordingly. In another embodiment, authorization of the VPN identification numbers can be disabled in the TSP network 20 and/or the LAN 40 to enable interworking among a greater number of VPNs.
• the virtual learning bridge of the egress line interface 23 a decapsulates the IPv6 packet and extracts the LAN frame at step s 224 .
• the LAN frame is forwarded to the destination LAN 40 , through the broadband access link 42 at step s 226 .
• the virtual learning bridge of the egress line interface 23 a learns and caches the mapping of identification information, such as an Ethernet MAC address and/or the VLAN identification number of the originating customer device 14 , to the TSP-IPv6 address of the ingress line interface 22 a , from which the frame was sent. Therefore, when the egress line interface 23 a receives subsequent LAN frames from the customer device 44 and/or the LAN 40 , destined for the customer device 14 and/or the LAN 10 , the egress line interface 23 a merely encapsulates the LAN frame in an IPv6 packet and unicasts the IPv6 packet to the ingress line interface 22 a , using the mapping.
• identification information such as an Ethernet MAC address and/or the VLAN identification number of the originating customer device 14
• TSP-IPv6 address of the ingress line interface 22 a from which the frame was sent. Therefore, when the egress line interface 23 a receives subsequent LAN frames from the customer device 44 and/or the LAN
• the line interfaces 22 a , 23 a and 24 a will learn and cache the mapping of the identification information of all active customer devices 14 , 44 and 54 in all of the LANs 10 , 40 and 50 to the TSP IPv6 addresses of the corresponding line interfaces 22 a , 23 a and 24 a . Accordingly, the line interfaces will be able to encapsulate the LAN frames in unicast IPv6 packets containing the specific TSP-IPv6 address of the desired line interface as the destination address, instead of a multicast IPv6 packet having the customer IPv6 multicast address as the destination address.
• the process increasingly follows the unicast steps s 232 , s 234 and s 236 of FIG. 2 , as opposed to the multicast steps s 214 , s 216 and s 218 , significantly increasing the efficiency of the TSP network 20 .
• An alternative embodiment of the present invention enables interworking among different VLAN VPNs (i.e., extra-net VPNs).
• the line interfaces 22 a , 23 a and 24 a are configured to recognize and authenticate multiple, previously assigned VPN identification numbers, corresponding to the interworking VPNs, instead of a single VPN identification number corresponding to one customer. Accordingly, any IPv6 packet that arrives at the line interfaces 22 a , 23 a and 24 a having a VPN identification number matching any of the VPN identification numbers on the list is authenticated and forwarded to the appropriate LAN 10 , 40 and 50 and/or customer device 14 , 44 and 54 .
• the allowed VPN identification number list may include all of the VPN identification numbers of pre-arranged peering business customers.
• the methods described herein are intended for operation as software programs running on a computer processor.
• Dedicated hardware implementations including, but not limited to, application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arrays and other hardware devices can likewise be constructed to implement the methods described herein.
• alternative software implementations including, but not limited to, distributed processing or component/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or virtual machine processing can also be constructed to implement the methods described herein.
• a tangible storage medium such as: a magnetic medium such as a disk or tape; a magneto-optical or optical medium such as a disk; or a solid state medium such as a memory card or other package that houses one or more read-only (non-volatile) memories, random access memories, or other re-writable (volatile) memories.
• a digital file attachment to email or other self-contained information archive or set of archives is considered a distribution medium equivalent to a tangible storage medium. Accordingly, the invention is considered to include a tangible storage medium or distribution medium, as listed herein and including art-recognized equivalents and successor media, in which the software implementations herein are stored.

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